Fake Terrorism Is a Coalition's Best Friend

[Chuck]

Iraqi police recently caught two terrorists with a car full of explosives. Would it surprise you to learn they were British Special Forces?

The story sounds amazing, almost fantastical.

A car driving through the outskirts of a besieged city opens fire on a police checkpoint, killing one. In pursuit, the police surround and detain the drivers and find the vehicle packed with explosives — perhaps part of an insurgent's plan to destroy lives and cripple property. If that isn't enough, when the suspects are thrown in prison their allies drive right up to the walls of the jail, break through them and brave petroleum bombs and burning clothes to rescue their comrades. 150 other prisoners break free in the ensuing melee.

Incredible, no? Yet this story took place in the southern Iraqi city of Basra recently. Violence continues to escalate in the breakout's aftermath... just not for the reasons you think.

You see, the drivers of the explosive-laden car were not members of an insurgency group — they were British Special Forces. Their rescuers? British soldiers driving British tanks.

That's right — two members of the British Armed forces disguised as Arab civilians killed a member of the Iraqi police while evading capture. When the people of Basra rightfully refused to turn the murderers over to the British government, per Coalition "mandate," they sent their own men in and released over 100 prisoners in the process.

Winning the hearts and minds, aren't we?

Sadly, this story is really not all that surprising. After hearing countless accounts of using napalm and torture against innocent civilians in addition to the other daily abuses dished out by American overseers, the thought of British scheming seems perfectly reasonable.

So what we have here is a clear instance of a foreign power attempting to fabricate a terrorist attack. Why else would the soldiers be dressed as Arabs if not to frame them? Why have a car laden with explosives if you don't plan to use them for destructive purposes? Iraq is headed towards civil war, and this operation was meant to accelerate the process by killing people and blaming others. Nothing more, nothing less. That the British army staged an over-the-top escape when it could rely on normal diplomatic channels to recover its people proves that.

Such extreme methods highlight the need to keep secrets.

There have been a number of insurgent bombings in Iraq recently. Who really is responsible for the bloodshed and destruction? The only tangible benefit of the bombings is justification for Coalition forces maintaining the peace in Iraq. Who benefits from that? Certainly not the Iraqis — they already believe most suicide bombings are done by the United States to prompt religious war. After reading about this incident, I'm not inclined to disagree.

Full article here: http://www.thesimon.com/magazine/art...st_friend.html

[Akil]

Notice site that carries you source carries pop-culture articles like the Oscars Embarrass Themselves and "Volver": Penelope Cruz Shows Off More Than Her Curves? Its un-peer reviewed, unaffiliated with the associated press and has a district liberal bias. I suppose you couldn’t find an actually news site that carried this mind blower?

[Chuck]

Notice site that carries you source carries pop-culture articles like the Oscars Embarrass Themselves and "Volver": Penelope Cruz Shows Off More Than Her Curves? Its un-peer reviewed, unaffiliated with the associated press and has a district liberal bias. I suppose you couldn’t find an actually news site that carried this mind blower?

Liberal or whatever, doesn't really make a difference as the incident is true. What the heck British forces were doing in Arab clothes with a car full of explosives? And why British forces had to break into prison?

[MTAFFI]

Liberal or whatever, doesn't really make a difference as the incident is true. What the heck British forces were doing in Arab clothes with a car full of explosives? And why British forces had to break into prison?

hey chuck

who says the article is true, you and the writer? Or does the writer even think it is true? Funny no one managed to get a picture of this, I believe mastercard would call it priceless. This story is BS and the sooner you realize it :blind: and live in the real world the better off you may be :D

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[Chuck]

who says the article is true, you and the writer? Or does the writer even think it is true?

Search on google news, you will get the incident from many news organizations like BBC, WP, etc... If you like I can get some links?

[kapow]

after i have read other articles from Matt Hutaff, i doubt, that article is a true story, he is kind of twisted.

[Chuck]

after i have read other articles from Matt Hutaff, i doubt, that article is a true story, he is kind of twisted.

I don't know about Mr. Hutaff's psyche, but the indecent is true... here are other sources:
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Basra,_I...rs_from_police
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/mid...st/4260894.stm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...091900572.html

[MTAFFI]

I don't know about Mr. Hutaff's psyche, but the indecent is true... here are other sources:
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Basra,_I...rs_from_police
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/mid...st/4260894.stm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...091900572.html

in these sources there is no reason to believe that the car was full of explosives, it just says they were "undercover", so other than the british barging in and taking back their men, what was done wrong here?

[Philosopher]

Notice site that carries you source carries pop-culture articles like the Oscars Embarrass Themselves and "Volver": Penelope Cruz Shows Off More Than Her Curves? Its un-peer reviewed, unaffiliated with the associated press and has a district liberal bias. I suppose you couldn’t find an actually news site that carried this mind blower?

I agree. Peer-reviewed articles and journals are the most reliable publications. I am assuming that the OP posted and Op-Ed.

[Chuck]

in these sources there is no reason to believe that the car was full of explosives, it just says they were "undercover", so other than the british barging in and taking back their men, what was done wrong here?

Ok... maybe they were carrying explosives for the 4th of july.

It is not clear precisely what the rescued soldiers were being held for, besides a possible covert attempt to plant a carbomb, as the Sept. 19th article listed below declares the 2 "were using a civilian car packed with explosives" while disguised as iraqis wearing arab uniforms. Many news sources have reported that the men were working undercover for British forces. Iraqi authorities report that the men had opened fire on police, killing one officer and wounding another.

http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Basra,_I...rs_from_police

[Count DeSheep]

Ok... maybe they were carrying explosives for the 4th of july.

Eh, I seen that one too...But look at the way it's typed. Kinda funny that the only article that actually notes explosives was on the site that anyone can edit. It wasn't even keyed up to par with Wikipedia's standards. Something seems off about that one.

[Chuck]

Eh, I seen that one too...But look at the way it's typed. Kinda funny that the only article that actually notes explosives was on the site that anyone can edit. It wasn't even keyed up to par with Wikipedia's standards. Something seems off about that one.

It lists its sources, same as wiki.... you can check the sources:

Iraqi police detained two British soldiers in civilian clothes in the southern city Basra for firing on a police station on Monday, police said.

"Two persons wearing Arab uniforms opened fire at a police station in Basra. A police patrol followed the attackers and captured them to discover they were two British soldiers," an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua.

The two soldiers were using a civilian car packed with explosives, the source said.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...nt_3514065.htm

[Chuck]

More sources... from CNN:

An Iraqi official, who spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity, said the soldiers' arrests stemmed from an incident earlier in the day.

The official said two unknown gunmen in full Arabic dress began firing on civilians in central Basra, wounding several, including a traffic police officer. There were no fatalities, the official said.

The two gunmen fled the scene but were captured and taken in for questioning, admitting they were British Marines carrying out a "special security task," the official said.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/...sra/index.html

[Trumble]

So you still can't find any sort of credible source confirming that they were driving "a vehicle packed with explosives"? The explosives that "perhaps" were "part of an insurgent's plan to destroy lives and cripple property"?

Going back to the original story;

When the people of Basra rightfully refused to turn the murderers over to the British government

Who exactly is supposed to have been "murdered"?

[Chuck]

So you still can't find any sort of credible source confirming that they were driving "a vehicle packed with explosives"? The explosives that "perhaps" were "part of an insurgent's plan to destroy lives and cripple property"?

CNN reports they opened fire on civilians, which is bad enough; however, WP mentions something about explosives "Iraqi security officials... accused the two Britons they detained of shooting at Iraqi forces or trying to plant explosives[1]" so Xinhua News report doesn't seem out of the blue.

Who exactly is supposed to have been "murdered"?

According to some reports they killed an Iraqi officer during confrontation:

Last week's events began when two British soldiers, dressed in Arab clothing, were confronted by Iraqi police in Basra. The soldiers shot and killed an Iraqi policeman during the confrontation. The soldiers' arrest, their subsequent violent rescue by British troops, and the explosive aftermath have sparked a new crisis for Tony Blair's Labour government.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0926/dailyUpdate.html

1. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...091900572.html